


The Teacher

by sheafrotherdon



Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 05:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13287636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheafrotherdon/pseuds/sheafrotherdon
Summary: Rey woke when it happened – felt the Force shift within her and around her, flaring into something that felt awfully like love before it faded.Set directly after the events of The Last Jedi.





	The Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to siriaeve for audiencing

Rey woke when it happened – felt the Force shift within her and around her, flaring into something that felt awfully like love before it faded. She sat up, letting out a low hum of discomfort as she worked out the kinks in her back, and paused for a second, blinking at the rush of hyperspace she could see through the cockpit window. “Oh,” she whispered, and pushed herself out of her chair, steadying herself with a hand against the wall before heading into the heart of the Falcon.

She found them in the lounge. Chewie let out a low, heartbroken moan when he saw her, and tears sprang to Rey’s eyes. “I know,” she said, crossing to where Leia sat, leaning against Chewie’s side, his enormous arm wrapped around her. “I know.”

There was peace on Leia’s face, and for that Rey was grateful. Leia had been frail ever since the First Order’s attack, and even after waking from her coma it had seemed as if pain were too firm a new friend. Rey half-smiled through her tears, reaching to cup Leia’s cheek in the palm of her hand, saying nothing, letting her heart swell. “I’m glad,” Rey said, looking up at Chewie. “That she was here with you.”

Chewie moaned again, and Rey nodded. “I’m sorry.” Another low moan, soft and pained and gentle, enough to communicate his loss but not loud enough to wake the members of the Resistance who slept throughout the ship.

There were footsteps behind her. “Rey?”

Rey turned to find Finn standing on the other side of the game table, Poe at his shoulder.

“Is she . . .”

“I felt something . . .”

“She’s at peace,” Rey said softly, and saw Poe’s face crumple for a second before he shook his head. She looked at Finn, saw the stunned awe he felt in the presence of a death that had not been violent. “We should . . .”

“Before everyone wakes up,” Poe said and stepped forward, reaching out to curl a hand around Chewie’s shoulder. He squeezed, and Rey saw Chewie loosen his grip, let Poe bend and collect Leia into his arms, gather her up as though she were the most precious thing he had ever carried. Chewie keened softly as Poe stood stock still for a moment, looking at his general’s face, before moving to take her to the private quarters she had refused to take in life.

“Rey,” said Finn. 

Rey watched Poe’s back, the sweep of Leia’s robe.

“Rey.”

“I’m here,” she said, and turned to find Finn’s arms already open. He pulled her close and she tucked her face against his neck, held on tightly as he smoothed a palm up and down her spine. 

“You’ll be okay,” he murmured.

She let out an unsteady breath. “We’ll be okay,” she said, and pulled back slightly. She turned her head and held out a hand to Chewie, who took it. “She said . . .”

Finn nodded, patient, encouraging.

“She said we have everything we need,” said Rey, voice catching, and Finn pulled her close again. A second later, Rey felt Chewie’s arms around them both, and she let herself sink into his and Finn’s touch, aching for what they had lost, for what remained. “We’re everything.”

Finn pressed his cheek to hers. “Damn right,” he said, sounding wonderfully sure even as his voice was stretched thin.

Chewie agreed with a quiet bark.

Rey closed her eyes and rested in the Force, felt the echoes of her teachers’ presence at the edges of her consciousness.

“Even now, we’ll win,” said Finn, resolute. And from the light inside Rey came an answering warmth, an absolute and fiercesome _yes_.


End file.
